Convoy

AP:

Horns blaring in a deafening fanfare, a convoy of truck drivers traveled to Washington on Monday to protest record fuel prices. Members of Truckers and Citizens United circled the National Mall before parking their rigs at RFK Stadium. From there, about 100 protesters marched and took shuttles to the Capitol, where an afternoon rally was held. "The high price for oil is hurting our economy," organizer Mark Kirsch said. "It's hurting middle class people." The national average price of a gallon of regular gasoline is a record $3.51, according to a recent survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. The price for diesel — used to transport most food, industrial and commercial goods — is $4.20 a gallon. Dave Gares, an independent trucker from Lebanon, Pa., said the $1,400 it costs to fill up his tractor-trailer with 220 gallons of diesel fuel has been a drain on his income. William Lockridge of the Washington Metropolitan Area Truckers Association said independent truckers are barely breaking even. "If the truck stops, the economy stops," he said. The truckers are urging Congress to stop subsidizing big oil companies, release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, and end exports of oil from Alaska, among other things.

Admirable, but futile. By taking their protest to Capitol Hill instead of the Fed, those truckers missed an opportunity to rattle Bernanke's office window with their horns during a week when he'll probably lower rates yet again and inflict more pain at the gas pump. But how many of those truckers have even heard of the Federal Reserve or Ben Bernanke (or Hank Paulson, for that matter)? If they're like the drivers I interviewed at the end of this article, we know the answer. The Fed's vaunted "independence" isn't so much political (everyone knows that's a joke) as it is psychological; the arcana of monetary policy keeps the Fed off the maps of the tour bus set, and that's just fine with those who work there. Out of mind, out of sight.